With developments in media compression and wireless network infrastructures, media streaming has become a promising area of technology for end-users, content providers, wireless operators, and other entities. Although there will be more bandwidth available for wireless technologies such as 2.5G or 3G and despite the fact that some of the advanced compression techniques enable very low-bit-rate streaming, there are inherent problems when it comes to the wireless environment.
Areas of wireless streaming applications where such problems are encountered include real-time media applications (including both audio and video streaming), real-time audio applications (such as live music or sports broadcasts), off-line media applications, and off-line audio applications. Unlike wired networks, wireless networks suffer from high rates of effective packet loss and intermittent packet delays. Packet loss and delays may be caused by factors such as network congestion, bit error rates, or data overflow at the user's device apart from effects, such as fading, which is an inherent characteristic of wireless networks.
In addition to packet loss, there are other factors that adversely affect the media received by the end user. The effect of any of these factors on the user experience can vary greatly depending on communication channel conditions, user device characteristics, environmental conditions, voluntary or involuntary events that occur during communication, or other influences.
All of the above-described and other factors ultimately adversely affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) for the end user in a mobile wireless communication environment in the context of media delivery and consumption, wherein streaming is but one example of media delivery. These same or other factors can also affect the QoE for the end user in a hardwired communication environment.